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Some back-to-school purchases are no-brainers, like a new laptop or Chromebook. But other helpful products aren’t always as obvious. They can seem purely optional—stuff to buy when you have money to burn. But don’t discount tech gadgets and accessories, especially if you’re often zigzagging across a college campus. Add in part-time work and the demands of a social life, and the right gear can help you keep your sanity. Here are 14 affordable gadgets I wish I had in school — it would’ve made life a lot easier! Laptop stand Lululook A laptop stand both frees up desk space and improves the ergonomics of your setup. You want your laptop screen at a height that prevents hunching or bad posture, especially if you often have long study and homework sessions. It also makes a dual-screen setup with a separate monitor less awkward. Fortunately, laptop stands aren’t expensive, and you can even pick up an ultra compact one that travels well. Take it from an old person—take care of your body now, or it’ll punish you for mistreatment later. Get the Tonmom Foldable and Portable Laptop Stand, $10 Bluetooth keyboard Michael Crider/IDG A small room can feel even more cramped with lots of cable clutter. A Bluetooth or wireless keyboard with multi-device support will streamline your desk setup, lets you switch quickly between a PC, tablet, and phone—and also allows you to take it on the road with you for better ergonomics and comfort. A good lightweight option like the Keychron K3 or Logitech MX Keys Mini travels well. If you’re not on the go often, a heftier mechanical keyboard will feel better during gaming and long typing sessions. Noise-canceling headphones Jonathan Takiff/Foundry A pair of noise-canceling headphones can be worth their weight in gold, as they’ll drown out distractions while you study (or when you need a break from loud roommates). Over-the-ear cans have the best battery life—top models like the Bose QuietComfort Ultra and Sony WH-1000XM5 get between 20 to 30 hours runtime—making them ideal for long playback sessions and situations where you can’t charge as often. Even models that cost half as much, like Anker’s Soundcore Space Q45, will run as long and still sound good. Meanwhile, ANC earbuds travel extremely well, tucking easily into a pocket for shorter trips out of the house. And you have no end of choices, with the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (the most affordable ANC option listed here), Sony WF-1000XM5, and Apple AirPods Pro just a few excellent options at the top end. Portable monitor Arzopa If you’re often away from your dorm or apartment, a good travel setup for your PC will make the hours spent on it more comfortable. In addition to a laptop stand and a lightweight wireless keyboard, a portable monitor‘s extra screen real estate lets you easily juggle different tabs or windows. And the good news is that they don’t cost much nowadays—one of the most popular models is just $100, and can sometimes be found on sale for less. For an even slicker setup, consider picking up a good portable stand for the monitor, too. Tablet Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry A tablet can fill many roles—like as a second screen for your PC, a digital notepad for keeping up with class lectures, or a comfortable way to read textbooks. It’s a great complement to a PC, especially if you have a desktop computer. The Apple iPad is a perennial favorite for such multitasking, as is Samsung’s rival Galaxy Tab S line, but you can also opt for an Android E-Ink tablet for less eye-strain if you primarily use it for reading. Computer speakers Creative / Amazon You can do much better than a portable Bluetooth speaker or a laptop’s built-in speakers. Good dedicated computer speakers won’t introduce audio latency when watching videos, or distort at moderate volume. They don’t take much room on a desk either. Our top pick for budget speakers runs just $25 and has a tiny footprint, for example. (You can see all your options in our round up of the best affordable computer speakers.) Bluetooth tracker Apple Losing track of your keys or other vital items is a pain—and all too easy to do if you’re often out and about. You can avoid this fate by attaching a Bluetooth tracker like an Apple AirTag or Tile Mate to your high-priority gear. It avoids a lot of headache when you’re too stressed to precisely recall your movements. External hard drive Tech Advisor Cloud storage is common these days, but having a local backup can save your bacon—even as antiquated as the tech may seem. Should you accidentally delete a file unknowingly from your PC, in the cloud, or both, if they sync with one another, you’ll still have a copy of the data. While you can use a cloud service specifically meant for backups, an external hard drive is cheaper over time and readily accessible, even when your internet’s out. Even a smaller 5TB drive is worth the investment. Power bank Lexon Being away from an electrical outlet for long periods is a guarantee while in college. Having even a small, pocketable power bank (like this teeny 5000mAh model) can help keep your phone alive all day. Pick one and you’ll be amply covered whenever you’re on the go. Printer Mark Pickavance A printer may seem like a relic, but you’ll still have to print documents occasionally. Sure, you can use a campus computer room, but they’re not always open at all hours—and some schools charge per page. A portable unit won’t take much space and allows you to print whenever you want. Even if you get the cheapest printer available, you usually can tuck it away in a drawer or in your closet. HDMI switcher Fosmon / Amazon An HDMI switcher quickly solves two problems when connecting multiple devices to a single TV or monitor. For starters, you’re no longer limited by the number of built-in ports. It also eliminates the tediousness of pressing multiple buttons on your remote to change devices. Everything routes through the switcher, which takes just one port on your display and usually auto-switches between active devices. A 3-port HDMI switcher is usually sufficient, but you can step up to a 5-port model for more gear. Ergonomic mouse and/or keyboard Kensington / Amazon Repetitive stress injuries suck. If you’re on your PC all the time, ergonomic peripherals can ward off suffering down the road. A simple wireless vertical mouse starts as low as $30, with alternatives like the Logitech Lift available for those with smaller hands. The trick is to take breaks regularly and, if you can afford to, swap the type of mouse you use every so often. Same goes for your keyboard—even a basic split keyboard model should keep your hands and wrists in a more natural position. Phone stand Michael Soledad / Unsplash A dedicated spot for everything helps cut down on clutter when living in cramped quarters. Getting things off the surface of your desk can greatly reduce visual noise, too. A phone stand helps with both these goals, while also letting you easily see incoming notifications at a glance. If you get a stand that also doubles as a charger, you can keep the battery topped up too. e-Reader Alaina Yee / Foundry Bookworms will want to bring a collection of favorite reads to the dorms, but physical copies can become a royal pain when ot’s time to move at the end of the year. The easier option: Investing in an e-reader, like a Kindle or Kobo. Your eyes will still get a break from LCD screens, and your room won’t get as cluttered. Will it feel as good as having paper in your hands? No, but being able to store hundreds of books in a slim, pocketable device is a decent trade-off. Plus, if you sign up for your local library’s Libby service, you can gorge on the written word for free. Further reading: 10 life-changing laptop accessories for college students Read...

If you no longer love your monitor, today might be the day to upgrade. Step it up a notch (or several notches) with this excellent 27-inch 4K Alienware display that’s now 22% off on Amazon, cutting its price down from $590 to a much more enticing $460. This is a gorgeous IPS monitor with a native 3840×2160 (4K) resolution and a speedy 180Hz refresh rate, but can also be swapped into 1920×1080 mode to unlock a jaw-dropping 360Hz refresh rate. It’s your choice between gorgeous visuals and ample screen real estate or blazing-fast speeds for ultra-smooth gaming—and you can switch on demand. The AW2725QF’s IPS panel paints its images with vivid colors and great contrast as well as wider viewing angles, complete with Dolby Vision and VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification. It’s also compatible with Nvidia G-Sync and VESA AdaptiveSync certified for tear-free gaming graphics. Port-wise, it comes with both HDMI and DisplayPort. It’s a pretty barebones monitor beyond screen performance, but that just means you aren’t paying for extra features you don’t need. Get it on sale for $460 while you still can! But if you don’t think it’s the right monitor for you, check out PCWorld’s guide to the best monitors. Save 22% on this awesome dual-res 4K gaming monitorBuy now at Amazon Read...

Ready for a laptop deal that’ll make you weak in the knees? Check out this Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 360 (oof, what a mouthful) that’s currently on sale for an incredible $1,000 off. Yup, you read that right. This productivity beast of a laptop is discounted by an entire GRAND, meaning its price has dropped down to a mere $900 at Best Buy. That’s a whopping 53% off and one of the best laptops you can get for this price. Once you’re done picking your jaw up off the floor, let’s talk specs. You’re looking at a fast Intel Core Ultra 7 155H that’s bolstered by 16GB of also-fast LPDDR5X RAM and a just-as-fast 1TB SSD. All of that means a speedy machine that effortlessly handles Windows 11, boots in a snap, loads apps in no time, and feels responsive day-to-day. The 360 in the model name indicates that this is a 2-in-1 laptop, so the hinge folds back all the way and you can use it like a tablet. The screen is a touch-enabled 16-incher OLED with gorgeous visuals, and the 2880×1800 resolution offers tons of screen real estate for productivity, plus it just feels so smooth thanks to its 120Hz refresh rate. When we reviewed the 14-inch non-360 version of this laptop, we found that the overall performance was excellent—so much so that we gave it 4.5 stars and our Editors’ Choice award. Not to mention how travel-friendly it is with its uber-light 3.6-pound build and 0.5-inch thickness. Other bits worth knowing about: aluminum body, backlit keyboard, 1080p webcam, dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, full-sized HDMI port, a fast USB-A port, and a 65-watt-hour battery with up to 21 hours on a charge. It’s an outright steal at this price, so snag the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 360 for just $900 before this amazing Best Buy deal disappears! Save $1,000 on Samsung`s fast and uber-portable 2-in-1 laptopBuy now at Best Buy Read...

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Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter—your weekly dose of hardcore hardware talk from the enthusiasts at PCWorld. Missed the hot topics on our YouTube show or latest buzz from across the web? I’ve got you covered. Want this newsletter to come directly to your inbox? Sign up on our website! This past week, Adam published a look back at the past few decades of PC component history, through the lens of my colleague Gordon Mah Ung’s career. The memories stretch from the mid-1990s (including Gordon in a full suit and tie) to the present day of contests for the slowest benchmark results. And by the end, I could see other people latching on to “change” as the biggest theme throughout. The visual evidence is there: the move from beige boxes to bright, even obnoxiously colored chassis; shifting case configurations and attitudes toward cable management (oh, for the days when we could shove everything inside and just slap the side panel back on); even the leap to ferocious high core-count processors and screaming-fast graphics cards. Vintage Alienware.Willis Lai / Foundry But while others could argue that change has been the constant in computer hardware, I’d instead champion ATX as one of the truest mainstays—and all the evidence of its steady, reliable presence over the past 30 years is right in the video. In build after build, ATX is there. An over-the-top, ludicrously decked out Dream Machine built by the crew at Maximum PC? ATX. The machine that won the ongoing competition between Gordon and others (including our friend Dr. Ian Cuttress) for the slowest benchmark results in Cinebench R15? Also ATX. And even Gordon’s signature troll build, the “reverse sleeper build” that sported a shiny new case on the outside, and old-as-heck parts on the inside? Yeah, ATX. Gordon had his bones to pick with ATX—he complained often that ATX was holding back the PC industry. (And I mean often, not just on The Full Nerd when the cameras were rolling.) But in the very next breath, he would then rail against companies like Apple, which has zero issue with (in Gordon’s words) throwing older tech overboard. ATX’s longevity is why you can put parts that look like this in a brand-new, sparkling clean case. Willis Lai / Foundry I’ve always had a different outlook, largely along the lines of Gordon’s follow-up rant. I’m open to a newer standard that evolves the layout of motherboards, sure. But I view the jump from the AT form factor to ATX more as a practical response, as opposed to just the insatiable hunger for innovation. ATX followed AT after a decade, bringing further improvements to standardization and swappability of parts. But when BTX launched nine years later, arguably “on schedule,” it failed to take. Not enough innovation, you could argue. But I view it as a sign of what truly motivates leaps in technology, whether the advent of the printing press or desktop-sized personal computers. I also think ATX’s ongoing relevance tells us a lot about the future of the PC. Innovation is a response to a need. As the PC industry has become increasingly more personal, with a far wider spectrum of options to address specific needs, what innovation looks like may continue to become smaller and more subtle. And possibly, it may even become less constant. In this episode of The Full Nerd… Willis Lai / Foundry In this episode of The Full Nerd, Adam Patrick Murray, Brad Chacos, Alaina Yee, and Will Smith talk about Intel being on the ropes, Zen 6’s emergence in the wild, and AI in Windows. To me, I found a lot of commonalities between these topics—they made me extremely contemplative about what innovation in the PC space will look like, because things feel a little…confused. Also, we got a glimpse into the remarkable details of the decor in Will’s home office. All I can say is: That potato has a butt. Missed our live show? Subscribe now to The Full Nerd YouTube channel, and activate notifications. We also answer viewer questions in real time!  And if you need more hardware talk during the rest of the week, come join our Discord community—it’s full of cool, laid-back nerds. This week’s intriguing nerd news I’m facing a second week in recent months where I’m questioning my deal-hunting skills, but a few technology wins are keeping my spirits up. What currently has me a bit starry-eyed: insanely fast internet. So fast that I’m a little giddy at the thought, even though I may never see it in my neck of the woods. What’s old will become what’s new.Wikimedia Commons I can’t top this data hoarder’s deal-hunting skills: Estate sales can be a good way to pick up useful, interesting, or downright quirky stuff for pretty cheap. But so far, I haven’t encountered any finds on the level of 11 Western Digital 8TB external hard drives for just $360. Man. What a score. Turns out you can put a price on nostalgia: $349 bucks is the cost of reliving your best childhood memories—aka getting your hands on a remade Commodore 64, compatible with over 10,000 C64 games and modernized to support HDMI, USB, and Wi-Fi. I hope this works out better than the Analogue 3D. (Not gonna lie, I’m a little worried Analogue won’t survive the tariffs, as they’re absorbing the higher costs.) Self-destructing SSDs? Pass. Don’t get me wrong—TeamGroup’s reveal of an SSD that destroys itself with the push of a button got my attention. But look, I’m cheap. Taking a hammer to my drives seems way simpler and costs a lot less. (As does taking them over to a company that has a proper shredder.) Also, if I’m handling data sensitive enough to require instant obliteration…why is it in my home? The internet is built on duct tape and string: For systems engineers, DNS probably gives y’all a lot of headaches. I certainly would have one, knowing just how fragile the system is. Or when seeing proof that malware can be casually slipped into DNS records. Fun. Linux is winning: Just kidding, it’s still barely a fraction of users on desktop PCs. But it is gaining a little bit of headway in the U.S.—we’ve now reached a milestone of over 5 percent market share. You may need to finally upgrade your Gigabyte motherboard if it’s vulnerable to a new security exploit.Gigabyte When will 6-cores become default? Well, not just yet: Brad floated the idea during this week’s episode that Zen 6 could shift to six-core CPUs as the baseline. But we’ve also commented multiple times on the show that the budget end isn’t getting much attention. I guess those laments won out, as the hottest chip news this week is AMD’s Ryzen AI 5 330, a four-core, eight-threaded Copilot+ laptop chip. Update your Gigabyte motherboard ASAP…if you can: Running an Intel processor? Perhaps one within the range of 8th gen to 11th gen? Is it sitting in a Gigabyte motherboard? Better check pronto if an update is available for it, because a vulnerability that lets attackers bypass Secure Boot was just disclosed. But if yours is too old, you may actually have to upgrade your hardware all together to avoid this security hole. ð?? Why not just buy actual gold instead? Look, I know the RTX 4090 has largely held its value. And maybe that’ll extend to the RTX 5090, too. But when I first saw Asus’s RTX 5090 ROG Astral Real Gold Edition (aka the RTX 5090 made with 11 pounds of 24-carat gold), I thought, “Surely investing in actual 24-carat gold bars would be the better call.” I’m a product of my upbringing, which includes very immigrant grandparents. I want Japan’s fiber optic internet tech: The land of the fax machine is claiming a record-breaking transmission rate of 127,500GB/s (yes, the big B, so really fast) over a distance of roughly 1,100 miles. Sure, I’d only use such speed to load cat videos instantaneously, but I still want it. Catch you all next week, when hopefully the hot parts of the world are cooler, and the cold parts are warmer. It’s 62 degrees right now in San Francisco. Also supposed to rain next week. Yup. Alaina This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld. Read...

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